Of course, Corporal Shalit will not be coming home in the immediate future nor will the EU observers be returning to their job of monitoring the Rafah border with Egypt. Ha’aretz:
Israel on Wednesday officially confirmed that an Egyptian-proposed ceasefire (tahadiyeh) with Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip will go into effect at 6 A.M. Thursday.
"If the fighting indeed ceases Thursday as planned, Israel will ease its blockade of Gaza next week," government spokesman Mark Regev said. At the same time, talks to release abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit will intensify, Regev said.
Shalit was kidnapped by Gaza militants from his IDF post in a 2006 cross-border raid.
Egypt and Hamas, which controls the coastal strip, both announced Tuesday that a cease-fire will go into effect Thursday morning. But there was no official confirmation from Israel until Wednesday.
"Thursday will be the beginning we hope of a new reality where Israeli citizens in the south will no longer be on the receiving end of continuous rocket attacks," Regev said. "Israel is giving a serious chance to this Egyptian initiative and we want it to succeed."
However, alongside the Israeli confirmation came eight Qassam rockets fired from Gaza, most of which struck open fields in the Western Negev on Wednesday morning. One rocket caused light damage to a nearby greenhouse. Palestinian militants also opened fire on Israel Defense Forces troops operating near the Gaza-Israel border fence, but none were wounded.
The last truce Israel had with Gaza run Hamas lasted less than 48 hours.
2 comments:
No worries, after this one fails the pair Olmert / Barak will find new reasons to disagree on any action.
I suspect both Barak and Olmert could have a successful future in Canadian politics. They would fit right in. Its tailored made for them. There is already a tradition of envelope passing for Olmert and Barak, as official opposition leader, can continue the tradition of leader his party in retreat.
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